HommeMystere is Growing

With the Aussie financial year behind us, we recently decided to change the warehouse layout of our lingerie.  Now we have entered our ninth year it’s sometimes difficult to remember where we started and how we have grown over the years.

So when we recently began adding some shelving to assist in the layout of our little warehouse, we decided to have a look back at where we began.

Like any small business, we started off from home with a few plastic boxes to hold the lingerie.  At the time we were making just a few of each size.  Literally.  So if you ever purchased a Taboo garment, they are pretty scarce now!  While we couldn’t find any pics of the first few ranges of lingerie, we did find this one.  Don’t mind the mess.  It was pretty crazy for a while dodging boxes around the house!

It was lingerie in every direction for quite a while.  Our little dog Peppa is going onto 14 years old now!
It was lingerie in every direction for quite a while. Our little dog Peppa is going onto 14 years old now!

Then we made our first step into outside storage.  It had to be somewhere close, gave good access and was secure.  We found a storage company renting single garage space with roller door but no power.  It was pretty cozy but we managed to get things done there for about 18 months before we outgrew the space.

It was a pretty cozy space but did the job and cleared the house out!
It was a pretty cozy space but did the job and cleared the house out!

After getting tired of moving cartons, squeezing in and out of the place and worrying about weather intruding into the shed, we moved on to something bigger.  It was time to move into a double garage space at a different location and it even had a powerpoint!  We could make up orders at night and even have a heater for the winter.  Luxury.

Stepping it up a notch with access to power.
Stepping it up a notch with access to power.

After growing even more we decided to make a leap into a real industrial unit with normal rent, access to the internet, power and phone.  Heady days.  It was a decent size lease and what we would describe as feeling like it was a ‘real’ business.  Not just a fun hobby to do at night and weekends.  There was plenty of space and we set up for the long term.

Large comfortable storage area with a new packing table.  Very fancy
Large comfortable storage area with a new packing table. Very fancy

There was still some spare room at the front of the warehouse so we decided to go crazy and design a showroom any lingerie loving guy (and plenty of women) would be pleased to visit.  It wasn’t pretty at the start but it soon turned out to be something special.

The before pic
The before pic

Some nice carpet, a bit of colour, a chandelier, wallpaper and nice lingerie.  What more could you want.

The nearly finished showroom
The nearly finished showroom

Unfortunately we didn’t get as many visitors as we hoped -although those that did come in certainly enjoyed the experience.  Then we had suffered a hit when our lease was unexpectedly ended early.  All that setup for nought.  And we had to move quickly.  So we moved into our current position and have recently added shelving to enable easier picking of orders and to tidy up the place.

A showroom might still be on the agenda for one day but for the moment we need to regroup, expand our range of lingerie and and build the online business.

Not quite Amazon size but we're pretty proud of our little warehouse
Not quite Amazon size but we’re pretty proud of our little warehouse

We think we can stay here for a few years yet provided our lease continues to be renewed.  Fingers crossed we can outgrow this place too one day!

Looking kind of official now!
Looking kind of official now!

None of this would be possible without the continued support from all our customers.  Makes us wonder where we might be in another 5 or 10 years!